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AMERICAN.COM

A Magazine of Ideas

NUMBERS

By Karlyn H. Bowman, Dan Holman & Karen Porter Friday, August 24, 2007

A week's worth of data, compiled from the last five editions of our daily email newsletter.

School Lunches Get Passing Marks

school lunch Culinary artistry aside, a majority of parents feel that their children's school lunches are reasonably healthy. Sixty-three percent of parents of K-12 students polled described school lunches as "somewhat" or "very nutritious," while 67 percent felt that school lunches contribute "not much" or "not at all" to the problem of childhood obesity. Still, most feel there is room for improvement: 66 percent think their children's schools should offer more fruits, veggies, and whole grains.

Source: Gallup News Service, August 2007.

 

 

 

An Informed Electorate?

political knowledge


Republicans are slightly more likely than Democrats to say they feel extremely or very knowledgeable about U.S. politics. A third of independents say that they are only somewhat or not at all knowledgeable. Men are more likely than women to think they are knowledgeable about domestic politics, with 44 percent of men saying that they were extremely or very knowledgeable in comparison to 20 percent of women.


Source: Harris Interactive, July 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support for School "Integration"?

Numbers- School Integration

      A July poll suggested that Americans were split about whether they supported or opposed the use of race in public school “integration.” When asked about their attitudes regarding the recent Supreme Court decision “to limit the use of race in school integration,” 36 percent of adults said they disapproved of the decision, 32 percent said they approved, and 32 percent said they were unsure.
     Non-whites were significantly more likely to express disapproval than whites, with 54 percent of non-whites saying they disapproved in contrast to 29 percent of whites.

     When the word “integration” was dropped from the polling question, however, the response was quite different. In an August poll on the same subject, participants were asked whether or not they agreed with the Court’s decision “that public schools may not consider an individual’s race when deciding which students to assign to specific schools.” This time, 71 percent said that they agreed.

 

Source: Newsweek-Princeton Survey Research Associates International, July 2007.

 

 

Internet Dating and Beyond

online dating2

     A new Pew Internet poll reports that public attitudes toward internet dating services have become more accepting in recent years. In the national poll, an increasing number of Americans say their friends have used dating sites with some success. Sixty-one percent of internet users in the survey said they do not consider someone who uses such a service "desperate."

     Still, 66 percent of all Americans think that online dating can be dangerous because it puts personal information on the internet. Perhaps because of these worries, internet users are finding other ways to use modern technology in their love lives. Among the survey's subsample of online adults who are single and looking for romance, 37 percent say they have used a dating website. But 40 percent of this same group say they have used the internet to flirt, 21 percent have been introduced to a potential partner by email, and 18 percent have used the internet to maintain a long-distance relationship. And if things don't work out? Nine percent admit having used the internet to break up.

Source: Pew Internet and American Life Project, August 2007. Read the full report here.

 

 

Not Buying It

edwardsss


Whether to the benefit or detriment of his campaign, John Edwards is widely regarded as the most populist of the major Democratic candidates. Yet a plurality in a mid-August CBS News poll said that if John Edwards were elected president, his policies would favor the rich. Only 9 percent said they would favor the poor. Democrats were more divided about how much he would help various groups. Twenty-eight percent said his policies would favor the rich, 31 percent the middle, and only 7 percent the poor.

 

Source: CBS News, August 2007.